Cationic polysaccharides have been used in many personal care applications, e.g. shampoos, shower gels, hair styling compositions, skin creams and lotions, where they provide theological properties to the compositions and desirable properties to the hair and skin.
Emollients are lipophilic materials that are utilized to smooth, soothe and lubricate the skin. They are quite often incorporated in cosmetic products to act as lubricants, reduce flaking and improve the appearance of the skin.
In most cases cationic polysaccharides used in personal care compositions are utilized as dry powders. However, handling of powders is often accompanied by dusting which can be a cause of health and safety problems. Moreover, in the case of cationic polysaccharides the dusting problem is particularly troublesome, because the cationic material tends to adhere strongly to anionic surfaces. Furthermore, particulate polysaccharides are known to lump excessively when added to water, resulting in low rates of solution, and so special care must be taken when adding these materials to water to avoid lumping and gel formation. Often, unacceptable gel levels remain in these solutions. For these reasons, there has been a desire to develop liquid cationic polysaccharide products that are readily dispersible in aqueous media, by dispersing them in liquids with which they are immiscible but which are useful in particular personal care applications.
Because emollients are widely used in personal care applications there is a particular advantage to be gained by having available fluidized polymer suspensions of cationic polysaccharides in emollients.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,675 discloses high concentration polymer slurries containing up to 65 wt. % xanthan gum in a hydrophobic solvent base treated with suspending agents, dispersants and thinning agents. Mineral oil, diesel oil, kerosene, alcohols (C.sub.6 -C.sub.2), vegetable oil, ester-alcohols, polyol ethers and the like may be used as solvents.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,566,977 is directed to an improved non-aqueous slurry which comprises a water-soluble cellulose ether, a water-insoluble liquid hydrocarbon, a non-ionic surfactant having an HLB of from about 7 to about 14, and an organo modified clay. The water-soluble cellulose ethers are selected from anionic and nonionic cellulose ethers.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,096,490 discloses a fluid suspension of 35-55 parts of carboxymethyl cellulose or a similar polymer in 40 to 55 parts of fatty acid with 1 to 5 parts of clay and up to 20 parts of emulsifier. Guar and hydroxyproyl guar are included in the operable polymers disclosed.
None of these patents discloses fluidized polymer suspensions of cationic polysaccharides or their use in preparing personal care compositions.
The salvation and solubility properties of various water-soluble polysaccharides can vary widely. Therefore, information on fluidized polymer suspensions of anionic and nonionic polysaccharides is of little utility in predicting what systems will be suitable for preparing fluidized polymer suspensions of cationic polysaccharides.